Agrophotovoltaic pilot system in Heggelbach

A pilot project with the largest agrophotovoltaic (APV) system in Germany was officially commissioned on 18.09.2016. On this occasion, the award for “Location in the country of ideas” was also presented. Fraunhofer ISE cooperated with partners to install the APV pilot system on the land of the Demeter farming community of Heggelbach. The installed power of the APV system of 194 kWp can meet the electricity demand of around 62 households.

Energy System Technology is one of the most important fields contributing to the success of the energy transformation. The field itself deals with optimizing the interaction between suppliers and consumers, their control and management and the management of energy distributors and of energy storage.

The R&D spectrum covered by the business area Energy System Technology at Fraunhofer ISE ranges from energy system analysis including the optimization of energy systems through to the development of battery systems, power devices or ICT solutions.

The main focus of our work lies in the development and optimized operation of sustainable energy supply systems for buildings, urban quarters, industrial plants and even national energy supply systems. We also investigate new solutions for integrating electric vehicles into the existing electricity grid.

In designing modern energy systems based on intermittent renewable energy sources, it is important to consider the different energy carriers like electricity, heat and gas as a whole. In order to achieve maximum flexibility and the highest possible economic efficiency, Fraunhofer ISE develops innovative solutions for control and regulation and for communicative networking on both the component and systems level.

Our extensive work in power electronics finds applications in inverters and converters, transducers and controls for both energy supply and transmission in stationary as well as mobile applications.

On this topic from our research blog »Innovation4E«:

Agrophotovoltaics – Existing Solution for New Problems

Blog post by Tabea Obergfell

Whether in Chile, Germany or somewhere else in the world – bringing home the harvest after a long working day is a satisfying feeling. As the German folk song “Im Märzen der Bauer” (In March the farmer) says: “He ploughs and he harrows and sows all it seeds […] and when all is blooming it gives them delight”. Nowadays, it is not that easy like in the song from the 1920s. Farming is much more complex, expensive, and energy-intensive. In addition, there are conflicts related to the use of agricultural land. One approach is the interdisciplinary field of research “Agrophotovoltaics” that investigates how agricultural land can be used both for plants or farm animals and photovoltaic power generation.